This invention relates to a machine which automatically fills containers and applies caps thereto. The machine is useful, more particularly, with containers of the general type referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,146 which are of plastic and have semi-rigid walls and which are capped with snap-on or press-on dispensing valve-caps, although it is not limited thereto. A filler and capper machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,399 which was designed particularly for sub-surface filling the containers of this particular type with a liquid that tends to foam and special operations were required to prevent excessive foaming of the liquid, such as proper initial positioning of the nozzle in the container at the start of the filling operation and relative axial movement of the container and the nozzle as the filling progresses. The present machine is designed primarily for filling the containers with water and non-foaming flavored drink products and relative axial movement of the filling nozzles and containers is not required and does not occur during the filling operation. However, the machine could be modified readily for sub-surface filling.
The type of container specifically referred to in the following description is disclosed in both of said patents and, as indicated, the snap-on or press-on cap to be applied thereto is disclosed specifically in U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,146. These containers are formed from a plastic material in a rectangular, box-like configuration and are of a relatively thin-wall construction that may be classified as semi-rigid. The dispensing and filling opening of the container is formed at an angled corner which is of advantage in both filling the container and dispensing from it as described in said patents and in volume of containers in relation to volume of shipping containers which received these filled containers. However, in filling such a container, it must be oriented in a tilted position with the fill opening uppermost as this facillitates filling to complete capacity although this specific container is given as an example in the drawings and description of the machine of this invention, the machine is not limited thereto and can be adapted to handle other container configurations. Also, the machine is not limited to the specific cap structure disclosed as it could be readily adapted to other forms of caps. As indicated, the machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,399 will fill containers of the particular kind described and apply press-on or snap-on caps of the particular type described. However, that machine was of limited capacity since it was only a two-head filler machine into cooperation with which the containers were fed alternately. Also, the caps were not handled completely automatically. Furthermore, that particular machine was designed as a sub-surface filling machine in which the platform, that supported the container during the filling operation, moved vertically.